Don't judge a book by its cover...

[DanaC]

... judge it by its title.

From time to time a book title strikes me as intriguing. Some of my favourite book titles are from books I haven't read. Others are old friends.

One of my favourite titles to date is: Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Rolls off the tongue like black cherry.

One I like but have never read is: The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks. Don't know why. Maybe because I live in Calderdale and it resonated with me as a name.

I always really liked the titles Stephen Donaldson gave his books. Particularly for his Gap sequence. Two in particular stand out for me:

The Gap into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises
The Gap into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die.

I've recently added another title to my favourites list and again it's one I have never read. Mainly because it hasn't been released yet. I'm not usually one for short stories (unless they're Whovian in nature:P) but one of the Big Finish crew (playwrite and writer of several doctor who episodes for tv) is also writer of shorts. His newest collection is called:

Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical,
by Robert Shearman.

That's the title that got me thinking about book titles just lately. As soon as I read that I thought, I need to tell the Cellar about that one. Something about it reminded me of us :P

So...anyway/ Anyone else got any cool, astounding, beautiful, or just plain strange, booktitles that have stuck with them?

[skysidhe]

I never look at the title first when handling a hard copy. I'll glance at it but I don't buy books based on the title. I do look at authors names first because some I can't stand.

I actually just look at the size of the print. The smaller the print the better the book. I then will read an excerpt and if I like it then I read the cover front and back.

[Cicero]

"How to Heal the Hurt by Hating".....Anita Liberty.

I got the book during a period when there were so many self-help books coming out that I thought I was drowning in them. That was a welcome title...The book is all in fun, and a comedy of course. As soon as I had heard of it, I got a copy. It's so worth it...It sits on the shelf and only the really adept book seeker can see the title. It sits in-between classics and dictionaries. It's almost a joke waiting to be found.

[DanaC]

Wonderful! I love it.

[limey]

"On Sledge and Horseback to Outcast Siberian Lepers" is probably the most striking title on my shelves ...

[Aliantha]

The Gap into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises
The Gap into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die

Both great books which are part of The Gap series by Stephen Donaldson. Brilliant work IMO.

eta: You should stop and read the whole lot.

[DanaC]

*Smiles* I read them all as they came out. Those were just the two titles that had stayed in my mind most strongly. Awesome series.